<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This essay turns to LaDuke’s literature and activism to explore ways in which contemporary Native American writers center their work around issues of food sovereignty, environmental protection, and economic self-determination as essential platforms for community regeneration, renewal, and survival. I argue that <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_ewcp-2019-0015_ref_009_w2aab3b8c15b1b7b1ab1ab9Aa"><italic>Last Standing Woman</italic> (1997)</xref>, Anishinaabe writer Winona LaDuke’s first novel, dramatizes many of these concerns at the heart of her activist and political work. Central to the novel <italic>Last Standing Woman</italic> is the significance of wild rice for the White Earth Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people of Minnesota. In <italic>Last Standing Woman,</italic> wild rice is not only a traditional and sustainable crop but also one that can ensure the livelihood of the community. At the heart of a feminist and activist novel like <italic>Last Standing Woman</italic> – as well as Winona LaDuke’s activist work, more broadly – is a twofold challenge, which resonates across much Native American writing: on the one hand, the challenge to preserve (existing resources, cultural practices, etc.); on the other, to recover the losses Native communities have suffered historically through colonization and its many consequences, such as the enormous loss of land suffered by the White Earth community. The turn to literature provides Winona LaDuke with a powerful site of political engagement, where she foregrounds issues of gender, tribal politics, and the environment at the same time as she tells a powerful story about Anishinaabe continued resilience.</p></abstract>

This essay turns to LaDuke’s literature and activism to explore ways in which contemporary Native American writers center their work around issues of food sovereignty, environmental protection, and economic self-determination as essential platforms for community regeneration, renewal, and survival. I argue that Last Standing Woman (1997), Anishinaabe writer Winona LaDuke’s first novel, dramatizes many of these concerns at the heart of her activist and political work. Central to the novel Last Standing Woman is the significance of wild rice for the White Earth Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people of Minnesota. In Last Standing Woman, wild rice is not only a traditional and sustainable crop but also one that can ensure the livelihood of the community. At the heart of a feminist and activist novel like Last Standing Woman – as well as Winona LaDuke’s activist work, more broadly – is a twofold challenge, which resonates across much Native American writing: on the one hand, the challenge to preserve (existing resources, cultural practices, etc.); on the other, to recover the losses Native communities have suffered historically through colonization and its many consequences, such as the enormous loss of land suffered by the White Earth community. The turn to literature provides Winona LaDuke with a powerful site of political engagement, where she foregrounds issues of gender, tribal politics, and the environment at the same time as she tells a powerful story about Anishinaabe continued resilience.

“The Recovery of the People Is Tied to the Recovery of Food”: Food Sovereignty and Winona LaDuke’s <italic>Last Standing Woman</italic>

East-West Cultural Passage

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

“The Recovery of the People Is Tied to the Recovery of Food”: Food Sovereignty and Winona LaDuke’s 

This essay turns to LaDuke’s literature and activism to explore ways in which contemporary Native American writers center their work around issues of food...

“The Recovery of the People Is Tied to the Recovery of Food”: Food Sovereignty and Winona LaDuke’s Last Standing Woman

Published Online: Mar 17, 2020

Page range: 121 - 139

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2019-0015

Keywords
Indigenous Literature, food sovereignty, sustainability, dispossession, food insecurity, Winona LaDuke, Anishinaabe literature

© 2019 Cristina Stanciu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

“The Recovery of the People Is Tied to the Recovery of Food”: Food Sovereignty and Winona LaDuke’s Last Standing Woman

Published Online: Mar 17, 2020

Page range: 121 - 139

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2019-0015

KeywordsIndigenous Literature, food sovereignty, sustainability, dispossession, food insecurity, Winona LaDuke, Anishinaabe literature

© 2019 Cristina Stanciu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Indigenous Literature, food sovereignty, sustainability, dispossession, food insecurity, Winona LaDuke, Anishinaabe literature